Apparatus for the manufacture of gas



4 Sheets-Sheet 1,

( No Model.)

H. 0,. HEW.

APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS. No. 389,105.

Patented Sept. 4, 1888.

, Inventor .By 7111:- Jliforney (No Model.) 4 Sheets- Sheet 2.

H. 0. REW.

APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS. No. 389,105. Patented Sept. 4, 1888.

mine sees.

7 .By his fllfw-fiey A my a; A W

Invenfor (No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 3.

.H. (J. RBW.

APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS.

No. 389,105. Patented Sept. 4', 188 7% my Li. Y IIHIIIIHIHHII witnessed? Inventor, gm MW, 4, 4M %Lw% J73 7111? J-LHov-ney N. PETERS. Phoxo-umogmp'ner, Washington. a. c.

4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

(No Model.)

H. 0. REW. APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE 01? GAS. No. 389,105.

Inventor, 7M &, a, ,fiy 722's Attorney tented Sept. 4, 1888.

N. PETERS, Pmwumd m mr. Wlnhinglnn. nc

, UNITED STATES lPATENT Darren.

HENRY C. REW', OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 389,105, dated September 4, 1888.

Application filed May 18. 1887. Serial No. 238,691.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY C. Raw, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Process of and Apparatus for the Manufacture of Gas; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention embraces improvements upon certain apparatus described in Letters Patent of the United States of America heretofore granted to me as follows, to wit: Patent No. 290,926, dated December 25, A. D. 1883; Patent No. 339,471, dated April 6, A. D. 1886; Patent No. 339,472, dated April 6, A. D. 1886; Patent No. 341,506, dated May 11, A. D. 1886.

The object of the present invention is to provide efficient means for utilizing bituminous coal in the manufacture of illuminating-gas by apparatus, which, though they have a general resemblance to matters heretofore known, are new in respect to the constructions and combinations hereinafter pointed out in the claims, the construction and operation being such that hydrocarbon vapors and gases are expelled from bituminous coal without passage there through of the heated products of combustion, means being provided for conducting the hydrocarbon vapors and gases from the retort or compartment adapted for coking coal into the current of gases generated by the decomposition of steam, air, or gas in and by incandescent coke, said coke being supplied by gravity from said compartment to the compartment or chamber adapted for the decomposition of steam, all as specified hereinafter, whereby the coal can be coked and the coke converted into gas in one continuous operation and the latter enriched from the coking compartment or chamber without carbonizing or burning the hydrocarbon vapors and without suspending the operation to introduce either coal or coke, and whereby the heat radiated and conducted directly from the generating-compartment to the coal in the coking compartment or chamber is utilized to expel volatile and gaseous hydrocarbons from the bituminous coal employed.

(No model.)

In the accompanying drawings, which form part of the specification, Figure 1 represents a vertical section of the improved apparatus on line .2 2, Fig. 2; Fig. 2, a plan of the same, partly in section, as preferably arranged in respect to the main parts; Fig. 3, a vertical section on line 00 x of Fig. 4, the apparatus embracing modifications of details; Fig. 4, a horizontal section on broken lineyyof Fig. 3 above the open brick-work and the grates, and Fig.

5 a detail showing the form and arrangement of bricks constituting the wall between two generators.

Similar letters of reference designate like parts in the several figures of the drawingaas also in the drawings in Patent No. 339,471, to which special reference is hereby made. The construction shown in Figs. 1 and 2 will be first described and modifications will be subsequently referred to in connection with other figures.

My improved gas-producing apparatus includes two furnaces which comprise compartments or chambers A A, situated below the exits L L, which are located approximately near the vertical center of the furnace. These chambers are provided with means for introducing air, steam, or gases for the purpose either of heating coke therein or of decomposing steam or gases. They are herein styled generators or generatingchambers, such terms being customarily applied in the art to furnace-chambers adapted to generate gases by decomposition of steam. These chambers are preferably connected below the grate-bars or at the base by the flue C. Flues D D for air-blasts and pipes G G5 for steam and H H for gas enter both of the ash-pits I A are surmounted by compartments or chambers A A situated above the flues L L, and are directly connected therewith,in order thathot gases may circulate freely through the ICO space adjacent to the exits and that the coal when coked in the upper con'ipartments may pass freely down by gravity into the combustion-chambers below the flues L L.

It will be seen that the generating or cornbustion chambers and the coking chambers or compartments are not distinct in the sense that they are entirely inclosed; but as the parts of the furnace above and those at and below the exits L L have substantially different relations to the operations of the apparatus they are for convenience of description herein referred to as generating or combustion and coking chambers.

The main body of the apparatus is preferably covered with suitable non-conducting covering, asindicated in Figs. 1 and 3, and the pipes and external conduits maybe so covered. The coking-chambers are preferably fitted at the top with any suitable tight feeding apparatus or gas-tight covers, and openings with covers may be provided for clinker-bars,which can be used to facilitate the downward move ment of the coke from the upper to the lower compartments. A pipe, A, controlled by valve (1", connects the upper compartments at the top, and pipes A A, controlled by valves a a", may connect the upper part of said compartments with the upper part of the regenerative chambers. (See Fig. 3.) The regenerative chambers E E are similarly supplied at their tops with hot-air-inlet pipes F F, steam-inlet pipes G- G, and oil inlet pipes M M, discharging therein through flues L L, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2, all of which pipes are controlled by suitable valves, as indicated. At their bases they are similarly supplied with gas-inlet pipes H H", air-inlet pipes F F, and steam-inlet pipes G G, also with similar outlet-pipes for products of combustion, K K, and gas-outlet pipes O 0, all of which inlet and outlet pipes are also controlled by suitable valves, as indicated.

The operation of the apparatus is preferably as follows: The chambers A A A Aare first filled with hard coal or coke, and the openings at the top of the furnace are tightly closed. The valves k controlling the outlets K K for products o'f eombustion, are then opened. The fuel is ignited on the line of the grate-bars, and air-blasts are admitted below the grate-bars through pipes D D, which urge combustion. The products of combustion, of which about twenty per cent. are carbonic oxide, which is combustible, and about eight per cent. carbonic acid and seventy-two per cent. nitrogen, which are incombustible, pass through flues L L into the tops of the regenerative chambers E E. Air,prcferablyheated by passing upward through fines in the walls of the regenerative chambers, is then admitted through pipes F F and the carbonic OX- ide burned. The highly-heated incombustible products of this second combustion (can bonic acid and nitrogen) pass down through the refractory material and out at the outlets K K, leaving their heat in the refractory material. XVhen the fuel in the combustion-chambers has been raised to incaudescence and the refractory material sufficiently heated, (asobserved through properly-provided peep-holes,) the air-blasts are shut off. Jets of steam are then admitted through pipes G G into the tops of the regenerative chambers,in order to drive out the incombustible gases remaining in the apparatus. The outlets K K for products of combustion are then closed, and one of the outlets for gas-as, for example, Ois opened by moving valve 0. Steam, air, or gas, or any desired mixture of the same, tlien' admitted at the bottom of chamber E through pipes G F H and is driven up through the heated refractory material, raising the steam or mixed gases to the temperature (about 2,000 Fahrenheit) necessary for their thorough decomposition when brought into contact with incandescent carbon. From the top of chamber E the mixed gases are driven through flue L into and down through the incandescent fuel in chamber A, then through the due 0, up and through the incandescent fuel in chamber A. By their passage through the chamber E, where they are first highly superheated,then through and in intimate contact with the incandescent fuel in chambers A A, the gases are completely decomposed and pure carbonic oxide and hydrogen, (provided that gas or steam only or a mixture of them, is admitted to the snperheatiug-ehamber 1D,) enriched by the hydrocarbons derived from the coal, are the resul ,1. From the top of the combustion chamber A the hot gases are passed through the flue L into the top of the regenerative or heat-storing chamber F, then down through the heated refractory material, wherein they are combined and fixed into a homogeneous gas, and out at the outlet to the gas-main O.

A test-burner, t, is attached to the main, and in case the gas needs still further enriching liquid hydrocarbons or their vapors may be introduced into chamber E through the pipe M and flue L, and in their passage down through the heated refractory material they are combined and fixed with the other gases into a homogeneous gas of any desired candlepower, according to the quantity of oil or rich gases admitted through pipe M. \Vhile making gas the oil-pipes may discharge oil dircctly into the coking-chambcrs, as indicated in Fig. 3, wherein it is volatilized and vaporized by heat radiated and conducted directly from the combustion and regenerative chambers, and the vapors may pass from thence through the connecting-fines into the enriching and fixing chamber. Air alone or a mixture of steam and air may be used as a gaseous medium in the manufacture of gas and forced into and through the incandescent coke, provided that it is desired to generate a heatinggas which contains a portion of ineombustible nitrogen.

A non-illuminating natural gas may be used as a gaseous medium, in the manufacture of gas,

instead of steam, and converted into an illuminating-gas of high candle-power. This method is advantageous in regions where natural gas can be cheaply and abundantly obtained. As it contains a large proportion of light carbureted hydrogen (0H,) and little or no oxygen, the heat of the fires in the generators is longer maintained, and it has been found nec essary to highly heat hydrogen or natural gas in order to cause it to unite with the carbon and to hold it in combination until carried to the place of combustion. Water-gas, hydrogen, carbonic oxide, or light carbureted hydrogen may be used alone or in various mixtures and with or without steam and passed through the incandescent coke.

As the inlets and outlets to the regenerative chambers E E are similar, the operation of gasmaking can be reversed at will, according to the condition of the fuel and regenerative chambers. For instance, after heating up the apparatus, steam, air, or gas, or any desired mixture of them, may be passed into the base of chamber E and through the combustionchambers, and the resulting gases may be combined and fixed in chamber E and the gases passed out of the apparatus through the outlet O. The gas-outlets O 0 may discharge the gas into a common water seal or hydraulic main, and the waste products of the combustion may also be discharged into a single chimney or Smokestack, as shown in Fig. 2. The several chambers, connecting-fines, outlets, and other parts illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 can be arranged in line, as in Fig. 3, if desired, though such arrangement is not preferred.

The combustion-chambers A A are supplied with additional hot fuel as fast as it is consumed by the coal or coke in the upper chambers, A A descending by gravity. Olinker bars or rods can beintroduced through openings z z to break up adhering fuel and hasten its descent, if desired. As the coke or hard fuel first supplied sinks down in the upper chambers, A A fresh bituminous coal is supplied through the openings at the tops of the chambers after each run of gas, or as required. Preferably these openings or fuelchutes are provided each with a valve at the top and also at the bottom in a well-known form, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 3, in order to prevent the escape of gas while charging coal into the furnace. As the coal enters the carbonizing-chambers,it is exposed to heat radiated directly and continuously from the combustion-chambers and regenerators, and its volatile hydrocarbons are thrown off during its descent through the upper chambers.

While heating up the apparatus in the manner above described the rich gases evolved in the coking chambers may pass down through the coal into the combustion-chambers or through the pipes A A into the regenerators, where they will mingle with the products of combustion passing through flues L L and with the air entering the upper parts of the the combinin and fixin chamber E where they are mixed with watergas generated in the lower combustion-chambers and aid in enriching and carbureting said gases, or when operating the apparatus in a reverse direction the rich coal and oil gases generated in the coking-chambers may in like manner be directed into chamber E.

It will be understood that in heating up coke by an air-blast in chambers A Athe valvesin pipes A A maybe wholly or partially closed. When the coke has been madeincan descent and steam or gases are thereupon introduced into the same, these valves and the valve or pipe A may be operated and regulated so that the gases expelled from the fresh coal in the coking-chambers may pass, as above described, into the fixing-charm her through the pipes. These gases may be varied in volume and constitution by opening the valves more or less to allow a suitable portion of the watergas to ascend through the coal and mingle with the coal-gases. All of the gas made in the chambers A A may be made to pass out through exits L L; but preferably a regulable portion is allowed to ascend in chambers A A and pass out through the valved pipes, together with the coal-gases, with the effect to aid in heating the bituminous coal in the upper compartments and partially mix the various gases. By this method of manufacturing water-gas and utilizing bituminous coal less oil will be required to enrich the gas to the desired candle-power, and the coke and the tar, which are the principal products (or so called residuals) of coal gas works, may thus be completely utilized and wholly applied to the manufacture of gas.

It will be seen that the apparatus may be divided and made into two separate and corn plete sets of generators and fixing-chambers by closing the flue O, as by placing a valve or diaphragm on the dotted line :0 x, or by closing the flue with masonry, or in any suitable manner. Then, after heating up the apparatns, as before described, air, steam, or gas, or any mixture of them, may be driven into the ash-pits below the grate-bars through pipes D D G G5 H H and passed up through the combustion-chambers A A, and the resulting gases through flues L L into the side regenerative chambers, E E, where they may be en riched with the volatile hydrocarbons generated in the coking chambers and with oil-vapors, as described, and combined and fixed IIO by passing them down through the heated refractory material in chambers E E. This method of operating is convenient when it is desired to restrict the manufacture of the gas to the use of one side of the apparatus, as when it is necessary to suspend operations in one part of the apparatus for repairs, although less satisfactory results are obtained, for the wellknown reason that the steam partially puts out the fire when driven in at the base of the combustion chambers, and experience has demonstrated that the decomposition of the gaseous media used in making gas is less perfeet and complete when they are not first superheated and when they are passed through only asingle bed of incandescent fuel to be decomposed.

With the outlets for the products of combustion are connected means for exhausting from the apparatus. In the present instance a chimney is illustrated,though a steam-jet or a blower might be employed. The use of an exhausting device and a valved outlet gives more perfect control of the circulation of the heating gases and provides for an efficient downdraft in deep regenerators. The combination of an exhausting device with a downdraft regenerative chamber and with a cokingchamber placed above the exit from the fuelchamber and having a tightly-closed feedingchamber is the subject of my application No. 208,716, filed July 22, 1.886, and is not herein specifically claimed. 3 A I 0 3 Valved steam pipes G G, provided with stop cocks, are connected with the pipes A A for use under special conditions, as when it may for any reason be desired in commencing operation or at other times to suddenly raise the temperature in the coking-chambers. The invention, however, obviates the evils resulting from the constant and compulsory passage of prod urts through the coking chamber, and the steam-pipes above described are provided to give more thorough control of the temperature and of the evolution of the hydrocarbon gases in the cokingehamber under exceptional ei rcu mstau cos.

it will be seen that the presentarrangement of the regenerators and the fuel chamber leaves a large space below the latter, and that this is utilized for the collection and removal of ashes. Preferably close aslrcliambers having tightly-closi ug doors are p rovidcd immediately below the grates, as indicated, and spaces left below these, into which a truck or wagon may be run, as has heretofore been practiced in metallurgic furnaces. The upper doors, B B, give access to the upper surface of the grates, and the lower doors provide for occasionally dropping the refuse. The whole space below each grate might, if desired, be thrown into one chamber made gas a tight and provided with a closely-fitting door; but the construction illustrated is preferable.

It will be observed that the chamber or space below the ash-pit and the regenerative chambers are separately inclosed. This affords an independent support to the furnace and gives stability to the same, while it permits the regenerative chamber to be separately surrounded with a metal covering to prevent the escape of gases through the walls thereof.

It will be understood that Ido notlimit myself to the precise arrangements and details of my improved apparatus as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings, as the construction may be variously modified without departing from the na ture of my invention-as, for instance, the hot products of combustion and gases may be passed into the base of regenerative chambers and out at their tops or sides, the regenerators may be placed directly beneath or above the combnstion-chambers, the apparatus may be constructed all in one or in two structures with suitable t'lividing gas'tight walls, and the detailsof the construction of the combined combustion and coking chambers may be modified without radical departure from myinventionas, for example, by varying somewhatthe con tour or relativcsize of said chambers-none of the variations noted being substantially inconsistent with the described construction and operation of the coking and generating chambers. Thus it is evident that a variation of dimensions horizontally, whereby the upper and lower compartments have a more extensive communication, would not materially change the operation of the furnace, but would in use simply increase the amount of heat passing upwardly from oneto the other and would facilitate the passage of distilled gases into the flue L, particularly when the upper compartment was entirely closed above.

As illustrated in Figs. 3 and t, the furnaces, regenerative chambers, exit-pipes, and water seals are arranged in line, and the generating chambers are separated by a wall pierced with flues 0, through which air, gas, or steam is introduced from the pipes 1), H, and G, respectively. Flues L L are provided in the external walls of the generators, whereby they communicate with the upper parts of the re generative chambers.

In the form shown in Fig. 1 each generating-chamber is represented as made wider than a eokingchamber, but contracted toward the grate, whereby a sloping wall is provided at the rear, which aids to support the coke and coal above. This greater width of the generators provides space in the furnace-top for the opening 2' above the generator, through which to introduce a bar for breaking up the fuel or removing clinker-s. Such space and opening might be provided by slightly contracting the bottom of the coking chamber, which, however, would tend to prevent the free descent of coke from the upper to the lower chamber.

Any material contraction. of the coking chamber at its lower end is inconsistent with my in'iprovement. It is further desirable that the generators should be larger horizontally than the coking-chamber. Such difference is indicated in the drawings; but it may be varied, as found desirable.

It is characteristic of myimprovement that the coking-chamber is in free and open communication with the generating-chamber, and that a common exit, such as L, is provided near the bottom of the former and top of the latter, or at about the mid-height of the furnace, the construction being such that, first, distilled gases from the first-named chamber and the generated gases from the second may pass out of a common exit-flue when desired; that, second, coal may be coked by heat from the gasgenerator without the passage therethrough of products of combustion, the communication between the two chambers being open and unobstructed, and that, third, coke can freely descend by gravity from the cokingchamber into the generator without the necessity of opening the furnace or retorts. To provide for the twolast-named objects,and particularly for the easy descent of coal in the cokingchamber and for the free delivery of the same when coked into the generating-chamber, it is essential that the coking-chamber should not be materially contracted in its lower part. I therefore make the bottom of the cokingchamher, which is adjacent to the exit L, about as large horizontally as any part of the same, and this is an essential feature, for were the bottom of the coking-chamber contracted in any considerable degree, or if said chamber communicated with the combustion-chamber below by a contracted passage instead of the wide and open passage, substantial] y as illustrated, such contraction would not only interfere with the upward radiation of heat and its conduction through the coal, but it would in operation produce a choking or clogging by the bituminous coal in the coking-chamber, owing to the well-known liability of such coal to be come agglomerated in masses and adherent to furnace-walls. This part of the furnace adjacent to the exit-fine L and at the bottom of the coking-chamber constitutes a passage for descending materials, and, being made of a horizontal area not materially less than that of the main body of the coking-chamber, adequate provision is thereby made for heat to pass up into the same and for the coke to pass downwardly, and also distilled gases, when desired. Such passages will ordinarily be filled with coke, while the main part of the chamber above will contain bituminous coal and such coal partiall y coked. As coke descends below the exit L, it is subjected to the action of air, steam, and gases introduced at the bottom or side of the regenerator. It will be understood, therefore, that in this connection the term passage is applied to that part of the herein-described furnace through which materials pass from the chamber above the exit-flue L into the chamber below the level of said flue.

I do not herein claim decomposing steam by the aid of incandescent coal or coke, enriching the gases resulting from such decomposition with vapors and gases, whether produced by vaporizing oil or heating bituminous coal,and then fixing the enriched gases, as such process is old and. has been conducted by the use of various apparatus; nor do I claim herein a process or apparatus in which either products of combustion or gas are passed through bituminous coal, nor, broadly, a retort or coking-chamber for distilling bituminous coal, whether alone or in combination, which has not a direct connection with a combustionchamber having an exit below the retort or coking-chamber and at the top of said combustion-chamber equivalent in operation and arrangement to exit L of my description,whereby the products of combustion escape without passing through the uncoked coal and the coke descends by gravity into said chamber.

I-Ieretofore a chamber for bituminous coal has been located abovea combustion-chamber; but the two chambers were not in direct contact, but were separated by a perforated arch through which very little coke could pass, a side door being necessary for its removal,and a distinct charging apparatus for supplying coke to the generator being also required, whereby much gas and heat were wasted.

In other furnaces heretofore proposed the lower end of an upper chamber was too contracted to permit the use of bituminous coal, and in another form which was not liable to the said objections no provision was made for the removal of ashes and refuse, except as slag, which latter would clog the exit and render such construction inoperative for my purposes.

It has also been proposed to use a furnace having a comparatively small space or area at the base and no grate. In such cases the operation is liable to be obstructed in the flues by ashes and refuse. This evil is obviated by a grate arranged over a suitable ash-pit. The bottom of the combustionchamber might be constructed for small furnaces as shown in Patent No. 339,471, or otherwise to support the fuel during removal of ashes, as does a grate; but such construction, though operative, is less desirable, especially in large furnaces, as less fuel can be exposed to the action of air-blasts in this manner than where a grate is employed.

My chamber or retort for bituminous coal is located at the upper part of the furnace and entirely above the exit from the gasgenerator, and it is heated by conduction and radiation from below. The natural tendency of the upper part of a furnace to become highly heated is utilized to distill the soft coal. The passing of products of combustion through such coal charged from time to time is objectionable, as it burns or carbonizes the hydrocarbon vapors and unduly heats the upper part of the furnace and the coal contained therein. It also expels volatile and gaseous hydrocarbons too suddenly from the bituminous coal,

with the effect to make the miXed gases introduced into the fixing chamber for the time too rich in carbon and proportionately too poor thereafter. A more gradual expulsion of such hydrocarbons by the direct eontactof radiated heat and the regulable admission of hot gas from the generating chamber by the use of my apparatus, while utilizing heat which would otherwise be lost by conduction and radiation in an upward direction, is acharacteristic of my improvement, and these advantages are secured in a combination wherein regenerative chambers are so connected with the gasgenerating chamber that hot gases or products are always passed in a downward direction in the brick-work,and wherein, also, coal may be charged at anytime without interrupting the process of gasanaking. It also provides means for conducting hydrocarbon gases and vapors from the upper part of the coking chamber or space to a regenerative chamber and from either of two coking-chambers to the other. It also provides two combustion or gas generating chambers, each communicating with a coking-chamber and also with a regenerativejchamber, the whole so related that gas or stea1n,or a mixture of these, may be passed through a regenerating or superheating chamber and through both generating-chambers and a fixing-chamber without quenching the fires at the base, and then the operation reversed,the parts of which same combination by the closing of a flue, G, between the generating-chambers may in each or either half be used independently for the production of gas.

Heretofore bituminous coal has been separately coked by hot gases directed against the exterior surface of the coking-retort, or by passing heated, partially-burned, or burning gases through the coal, and the products of such operations have been mingled with nonilluminating gases and these mingled gases heated in a retort or passed'through heated brick-work. According to the present invention vapors or gases are separately distilled from bituminous coal by the heat of the chamber in which non-illuminating gases are generated, such heat for the main part being radiated directly into the cokingchamber without the circulation of products of combustion either through or around the chamber containing the bituminous coal. The cokingchamber is also partially heated by conduction from the generator, and prior to the present improvement heating and other gases have been conducted downwardly in regenerative chambers. Fire-chambers or generators have also been connected in pairs and each of such pairs connected with a regenerative brick-work cha1nber,and apparatus have also been described for coking coal and for removing the coke into a generating-chamber and for enriching non-illuminating gas with the vapors or gases thus distilled. Such matters are not of my invention, and my claim herein is limited to the combinations and processes substantially as herein described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

Fuelanagazines have also been located over gas-generating chambers, so as to supply fuel to said generators by gravity, as set forth in my patent, No. 263,985; but in said apparatus bituminous coal could not be employed, because of the narrow passage from the magazine to the generator. The narrowness of thepassage would not only involve a speedy choking of the passage if the heat was sufficient to coke the coal, but it would. prevent the radiation and conduction of heat through such passage in sufficient quantity. In the Springer construction heat for such purpose might be ob tained from brick-work chambers at the side of the fuel-magazine; but this would not be according to my improvement, and his invention did not contemplate the use of bituminous coal, nor would his magazine, with its contracted throat, admit ofits use. My improvement requires a coking-chamber in open communication with the generating or combustion chamber by a passage which shall have a horizontal area as large or larger than the largest horizontal section of the coking-chamber and smaller than a similar section of the eombus tion-chamber, whereby danger of choking up is avoided.

Having thus described my invention, what I desire to claim and secure by Letters Patent 1. In a gasmaking apparatus, two furnaces connected at their bases by a flue and at their upper portions by a valved pipe, each furnace provided near its mid-height with a fine for gases and products of combustion, having a chamber below said flue provided with inlet pipes at its base, and with a grate, ash-pit, and ash-pit door, said furnaces each having also above the flue a chamber provided with a charging-inlet and with gas-pipes. all having valves or equivalent means for closing the same, said upper chamber or compartn'ient communicating with the lower near the region of the exit by an opening or passage having substantially the same area in cross-section as the main part of the upper chamber, where by the bituminous coal can be coked in said upper chamber and the coke thus produced can gradually pass by gravity into the lower compartments, and whereby distilled gases descending from the coal above may be mingled near or in the flue with products of combustion from the chambers below, and whereby two bodies of fuel in the lower compartments may be simultaneously healed and then used in succession to generate gas, substantially as set forth.

2. In a gas-producing apparatus, the combination of two furnaces each having a flue near its mid-heightfor the passage of gases or products of combustion and a compartment or chamber for coking coal, and provided with a closable charging-inlet above and another compartment for generating gas provided with inlet-pipes below said flue, a valved pipe by IOC which the upper compartments may communicate, whereby the gas generated in thelower compartment may be passed out of the flue below the upper compartment,- and whereby distilled vapors or gases may be passed from one of the upper compartments to the other and the flow of said vapors regulated, substantially as specified.

3. In a gas-making apparatus, afurnaee provided near its mid-height with a flue for the passage of gases or products of combustion, having a compartment above and a compartment below said fine, the lower compartment being provided with pipes and with a grate, and an ash-receptacle having a door, and the upper compartmentwith a charging-inlet provided with a valve for tightly closing the same, and a valved pipe leading from near its top to a brick-work regenerative chamber, and said brick-work chamber, all in combination, whereby bituminous coal may be charged and ashes removed, and whereby gases or products of combustion may pass through the flue below the upper compartment and distilled vapors or gases from the top of the latter may pass into the brickwork chamber and their flow be regulated, substantially as specified.

4. In a gas-making apparatus, the combination of two brick-work or regenerative chambers and two furnaces, each of the latter having a flue near its mid-height for the passage of gases or products of combustion communicating with a regenerative chamber, and each having a compartment provided with a closable inlet for coal above said flue and another compartment for generating gas provided with inletpipes below said due, a valved pipe by which the upper compartments may communicate, and valved pipes by which each of the said upper compartments of the furnace may communicate respectively with a regenerative chamber, whereby gases or products of combustion may be passed from the lower furnace-compartments and below the upper into the regenerative chambers, and whereby distilled gases or vapors may be passed from the upper compartmentinto said regenerative chamber and the flow of the latter regulated, substantially as specified.

5. In a gas-making apparatus having a furnace including a gas-generating chamber or compartment provided with inlet-pipes, an ash-pit, and an ash-pit door, all located above the base of the apparatus, a regenerative or brick-work chamber extending from near the upper part of said gas-generating chamber to the base of the apparatus and separately inclosed, a flue connecting the tops of said gasgenerating and brick-work chambers, and a separately-inclosed chamber below the ashpit, whereby access may be had to the under side of the same and sufficient depth of refractory material supplied in the regenerative chambers, and whereby hot gases may pass through brick-work from the vicinity of the upper part of the gas-generating compartment down below the region of the grate, substantially as specified.

6. The combination, substantially as described, of the fuelor gas-generating chambers or compartments A A A A located partially above the superheating and fixing chambers E E, connected at the base by the flue Gand at the top by the valved pipe A with the superheating and fixing chambers E E,having outlets for gas and products of combustion and inlets for steam connecting with their bases, and having fines L L, connecting the tops of the superheating and fixing chambers with the sides of the gas-generating chambers, substantially as and for the purpose described.

7. The combination of the regenerative or superheating and fixing chambers E E, connected by the fines L L at their tops with the sides of the gas-generating chambers A A A A and having the steam-inletsG G, the air-inlets F F, and the oil-inlets M M at their tops, and the steam-inlets Gr G the airinlets F F, and the gas-inlets H H, and also the outlets K K for products of combustion, and outlets O O for gas, connected with their bases, as shown, the tops of the regenerative chambers being connected with the tops of the gas-generating chambers by the valved pipes A A A,substantially as and for the purpose described.

8. In a gas apparatus, two furnaces, each having walls made impervious to gas and provided near its mid-height with a flue for gases and products of combustion, and having a chamber below said fine for combustion of coke, and also a chamber above said flueprovided with a charging-inlet for coal, the two furnaces being connected at their lower part by a due, whereby gases may pass from the base of one into the base of the other, and also connected at their upper part by a pipe to convey coal-gas from one to the other,each furnace being provided with a brick-work or regenerative chamber and pipes for air,steam, or gas, all combined substantially as specified.

9. The combination of the gas-generating chambers A A A A, connected at the base by the fine 0 and at the top by the valved pipe A, having the tight feeding appliances X X at their tops, the outlets L L at their sides for gas and products of combustion, and the air-inlets D D at their bases, the lower parts of the chambers being enlarged to permit the free descent of fuel, substantially as and for the purpose described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY O. REV.

Witnesses:

GEORGE W. NORTHRUP, J r., WM. M. NORTHRUP. 

